APTA STANDARDS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM APTA SGR-TAM-RP- RECOMMENDED PRACTICE 00x-13 American Public Transportation Association Approved xxxx xx, 2013 1666 K Street, NW, Washington, DC, 20006-1215 Working Group Namexx Capital Asset Inventory and Condition Assessment Abstract: This document outlines the initial steps needed to create and/or improve asset management within a transit agency, regardless of transit agency size. It outlines how to manage capital assets from procurement to disposal (i.e., over the life cycle). Keywords: asset inventory, condition assessment, transit asset management, state of good repair, performance management, MAP-21 Summary: A managed capital asset life cycle can provide critical data for analyzing costs of operating a transit service that, in turn, highlights the benefits and considerable cost savings to be had in standardizing assets. The asset management program forms the basis for long-term financial planning (a projection of future expenditures) that reconciles both the objectives of operations and maintenance and capital budgeting, thus collectively contributing to extension of the useful (economic) life of assets. Investment in capital assets must be systematic and data driven. Collecting regular condition and performance data to better focus scarce resources on coaxing greater reliability from aging assets is central to being good stewards of public funds. Asset management contributes to shaping not only organizational strategies; it becomes a critical input in shaping regional and urban planning, understanding what sustainability goals can be met, and planning for the future health of the transit system. This document is organized into the following sections: y Defining and organizing capital assets y Developing an asset inventory y Assessing the condition of assets Scope and purpose: The scope of this Recommended Practice is to address the level of detail necessary to maintain in an inventory of assets, the essential data elements of inventory, the process in collecting this data and, most importantly, how this information can influence decision making. The condition and risk assessment of assets guides organizations in prioritizing its day-to-day work activity as well as its long-term strategic plan/capital rehabilitation and replacement program. This Recommended Practice represents a common viewpoint of those parties concerned with its provisions, namely, transit operating/planning agencies, manufacturers, consultants, engineers and general interest groups. The application of any standards, practices or guidelines contained herein is voluntary. In some cases, federal and/or state regulations govern portions of a transit system’s operations. In those cases, the government regulations take precedence over this standard. APTA recognizes that for certain applications, the standards or practices, as implemented by individual transit agencies, may be either more or less restrictive than those given in this document. © 2013 American Public Transportation Association. Contents 1. Defining and organizing your assets ............................................... 1 2. Developing an asset inventory ......................................................... 2 2.1 Populating the asset inventory ..................................................... 3 Participants 2.2 Condition assessment approach ................................................... 5 The American Public Transportation Association greatly appreciates the contributions of the State of Good Appendix A: Inventory assessment methodology .............................. 6 Repair Working Group, which provided the primary effort in the Definitions ............................................................................................... 8 drafting of this Recommended Practice. Abbreviations and acronyms ................................................................ 8 At the time this standard was completed, the working group included the following members: References .............................................................................................. 8 Kyle Bell (APTA Staff) Steve Berrang Rolando Cruz Paul Edwards Grace Gallucci Gary Glasscock John Goodworth Rick Harcum Jeff Hiott (APTA Staff) Daniel Hofer Lauren Isaac Rick Kindig Rick Laver John Lewis Sharon Montez Kyle Nicholson Bob Peskin Victor Rivas David Rose Frank Ruffa Jerry Rutledge Dave Springstead We appreciate our program sponsors Funding for the APTA Standards Program is provided by APTA members. Additional funding has been provided by the Federal Transit Administration, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Joint Program Office for certain select efforts. © 2013 American Public Transportation Association | ii APTA RP-xxx-00x-13 | Capital Asset Inventory and Condition Assessment Capital Asset Inventory and Condition Assessment 1. Defining and organizing your assets This document focuses on assets as defined by the Asset Management guide commissioned by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). It is important to distinguish between the asset definition for financial and asset management control purposes. An example of requirements for tracking assets for financial control may be a cost threshold in addition to an estimated useful life of greater than one year. The definition for asset management control needs to focus on questions such as: y Is the asset repairable or replaceable? y Does it require maintenance? y Is it inspected? y Does it require individual tracking for reliability or performance purposes? Creation of an asset inventory may begin, for example, with review of the financial inventory and procurement records. These are lists of assets that have been deemed necessary to meet the desired levels of service and that need to be maintained, and are a requirement for input into a maintenance work order system. This inventory may serve as the baseline inventory that could be evaluated for inclusion into a comprehensive asset inventory. Transit capital assets vary significantly based on service mode, performance requirements and maintenance requirements. A well-structured asset portfolio hierarchy facilitates the asset management process and provides effective support for maintenance activities. It further provides the basis for aggregation of costs data. Every management system requires a grouping of assets for performance measurement, cost analysis or reporting purposes. There are several hierarchical relationships both proposed and currently in use. These hierarchies include those developed by FTA - Transit Economic Requirements Model (TERM and TERM-Lite) - the FTA Asset Management Guide, FTA Standard Cost Categories (SCC) for Capital Projects, and the requirements for the National Transit Database (NTD). There is a recommended list of elements should be included in the top tier of a capital asset hierarchy (see Appendix A for an example industry standard). When developing an asset hierarchy, be mindful of internal and external business practices and reporting requirements. Below is an example of a top-tier hierarchy: 1. Guideway elements refers to the structural elements that allow for the movement of an agency’s fixed-guideway vehicles. Guideway assets are broadly categorized into track elements, above-grade structures (bridges), below-grade structures (tunnels), and ancillary structures (e.g., passenger and maintenance access and retaining walls). 2. Facilities refers to the structures that enclose or support maintenance, operations and administrative activities. Facilities also house specialized equipment that supports the operations and maintenance of the vehicles (e.g., fueling and washing facilities). Other examples include the grounds, roofs, mechanical and electrical equipment, plumbing, and all fixed equipment at a bus or rail maintenance or administrative facility. © 2013 American Public Transportation Association 1 APTA RP-xxx-00x-13 | Capital Asset Inventory and Condition Assessment 3. Systems include a diverse set of monitoring and control systems that support core operational functions. All of these systems are critical to the transit system, providing power, (including all building substations, third rail, catenaries, etc.) communications, revenue collection, security and safety controls (e.g., radio, GPS, video surveillance, farebox and wireless). 4. Stations provide shelter for customers. Examples include bus/rail station structures, elevators/escalators and passenger waiting areas. 5. Vehicles refers to rolling stock that is used to provide revenue or nonrevenue service. Rolling stock can include heavy rail, light rail, streetcars, buses, paratransit vehicles, ferryboats, service vehicles, yard tugs and street supervisor vehicles. Once the organization has defined its high-level asset hierarchy, it must then determine the depth of the asset breakdown for each category. The development of an asset breakdown structure (ABS) is based on the top- tier hierarchy and can go many levels down. Each high-level category may have multiple methods of categorization. Table 1 includes an example of a breakdown per top-tier hierarchy. TABLE 1 Sample Asset Breakdown Structure Top tier Fleet Facilities Rail Guideway Systems Stations Property Hawthorne Second tier revenue coaches line signaling (rail repair facility) Station All coaches within building (service Third tier a production tracks audible escalator building) group Fourth tier individual coach roofs rail relay escalator motor Vehicle components Linear Fifth tier, etc. adhesive system